On Friday, the 9th of April, 2021, one Mr Akachi and his younger brother were coming back from their restaurant where they sell food, and men of the Nigeria Police in Mpape arrested them on the condition of coming in late hours.
However, it will interest you to know that before their arrest, they had been threatened to be dealt with by the same officers long ago for not paying ‘levy’ to them as others who have shops and restaurants in the same area do.
I heard of the incident and I quickly rushed to the police station to hear the police side of the story and ensure their release. After reaching the station around 11:39p.m, four police officers came out of a truck parked by the entrance of the police station in Mpape, and asked where I was going to? I introduced myself to them and sought to know if Mr Akachi and his brother were in their custody. They said yes. Then, I demanded to know the reason for their arrest. They collectively told me that they have been arrested for late hours.
Thereafter, I asked: Why did you arrest them for late hours when other people are still in their shops and restaurants within the same area operating at the same time? The officers became speechless. I also asked: Which part of the Nigerian constitution says only Akachi and his younger brother can be arrested for late hours, but others who are also out at the time of their arrest should be allowed to go? The officers were provoked and threatened to arrest me too.
Thereafter, before I could call their DPO, they quickly reached out him to report me. I called the DPO twice, but he was on another call. I waited and called back. For the third time, the DPOs picked my call and asked who was calling. I introduced myself to him and narrated the whole story to him.
To my surprise, the DPO said that the guys arrested shouldn’t have been out by the time they were arrested. Thereafter, I explained to him how they were threatened to be dealt with by his men long ago for not paying levy to them, and other people were equally operating at the same place and the time the guys in question were arrested. So, why pick only them for late hours and ignored others?
After the argument on phone with the DPO, he reluctantly ordered his men to release them and they were released.
This is not the first time the DPO of Mpape and his men behave in this manner. Earlier this year, 2021, one Mr Benjamin ran to the same DPO and reported someone who destroyed his farm to build a house without contacting Mr Benjamin simply because he owns the land. The same owner of the land was the one who allowed Mr Benjamin to farm on the land, but failed to let him know when he wanted to make use of the land.
I called the same DPO and pleaded with him to assist Benjamin to get compensation for his destroyed crops. To cut the long story short, the land owner finally paid N10,000 as compensation. Thereafter, the DPO and his men collected N4, 000 from the poor farmer, leaving him with only N6,000. What a pity.
The police authorities should do what is necessary to ensure that the DPO of Mpape and his men do not operate outside the law.
• Awunah Pius Terwase writes from Mpape, Abuja.
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